<b>September 15 2003</b> -TORONTO- University of Toronto researchers have identified for the first time a cancer stem cell in both malignant and benign brain tumors. The study, published in Cancer Research, said the discovery at the Hospital for Sick Children may change how brain tumors are studied and how it is treated in the future.
"The discovery of a cancer stem cell for brain tumors means that only a small number of cells in a brain tumor have the ability to drive tumor growth," study leader Dr. Peter Dirks, a neurosurgeon, said in a statement.
"The discovery of a cancer stem cell for brain tumors means that only a small number of cells in a brain tumor have the ability to drive tumor growth," study leader Dr. Peter Dirks, a neurosurgeon, said in a statement.
"Many current cancer therapies may fail because they do not kill the cancer-sustaining stem cells. We now have to work on designing therapies that will attack these stem cells."
Brain tumors are the leading cause of cancer mortality in children and remain difficult to cure, according to Dirks.
